Business News
Danaher Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2007 Results
Thursday 24. January 2008 - Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) announced results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2007. Net earnings for the fourth quarter were $320 million, or $0.97 per diluted share. Earnings for the period include the results of operations of Tektronix since its acquisition in November, 2007.
Included in the results are certain non-cash charges related to the Tektronix acquisition for purchased in-process research and development and the fair value adjustments to recorded inventory and deferred revenue which reduced net earnings by $66 million or $0.20 per diluted share in the period. Also included in the earnings per share results are gains of approximately $0.05 per diluted share related to reductions of income tax reserves as a result of the favorable resolution of certain prior year tax items. Absent these two items, adjusted earnings per diluted share was $1.12, a 19% increase over last years’ comparable adjusted earnings per diluted share from continuing operations of $0.94.
Attached is a reconciliation of adjusted diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations to diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations calculated according to GAAP, for the three and twelve month periods ended December 31, 2007 and the comparable prior year periods.
Sales from continuing operations for the 2007 fourth quarter were $3.1 billion, 19.5% higher than the $2.6 billion reported for the 2006 fourth quarter.
Net earnings from continuing operations for the full year 2007 were $1.2 billion, or $3.72 per diluted share. In addition to the fourth quarter 2007 items noted in the first paragraph, full year 2007 earnings per diluted share benefited from a $0.02 per diluted share gain related to the collection of indemnity proceeds and a $0.02 per diluted share gain resulting primarily from the impact of income tax rate reductions in certain international jurisdictions. Excluding these gains, as well as the other 2007 items referenced in the first paragraph, adjusted earnings per diluted share from continuing operations for the 2007 full year was $3.83, an increase of 19% compared to 2006 full year adjusted earnings per diluted share. Adjusted earnings per diluted share was $3.85 including the impact of $0.02 per diluted share for discontinued operations from prior quarters. For the 2007 full year, net earnings per diluted share was $4.19 which includes the gain on the sale of the Power Quality business in July 2007.
Sales from continuing operations for 2007 were $11 billion compared to $9.6 billion for 2006, an increase of 16.5%.
H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are pleased once again to report record fourth quarter and full year results. For the quarter, growth from existing businesses, also known as core revenues, increased 4.5%. Operating cash flow from continuing operations for the year was a record $1.7 billion, representing an 11% increase over 2006. Despite softness in some of our OEM and U.S. consumer facing end markets, we continue to see strength across most of our businesses and remain confident in our ability to again deliver in 2008.”